Sukkos Issues

Question: Is there a halachic difficulty in using a succah with a metal frame?

Discussion: Yes. Although it is permissible to use a metal frame to support
the walls of a succah{1}, placing sechach directly on the metal frame is
problematic because we follow the opinion of some Rishonim who maintain that
any object that directly supports the sechach must also be made from
materials that are kosher for sechach{2}. Since kosher sechach cannot be
made from metal, l’chatchilah one may not place sechach directly on top of a
metal-frame succah. B’diavad, however, such a succah is kosher. In a case
where only a metal-frame succah is available, it is permitted to use this
type of succah even l’chatchilah{2}.

Question: May one use a metal-frame succah l’chatchilah if wood strips are
placed over the metal frame and the sechach is placed on the wood?

Discussion: Some poskim permit using a metal-frame succah if the sechach
does not lie directly on the metal, since the sechach is no longer touching
the metal and being supported by it, but rather by the wood which is
directly under it{4}. Other poskim are hesitant about this leniency, since
the sechach is really being supported by the metal frame, and the wood
serves merely as a barrier between the frame and the sechach{5}. According
to these poskim, the only way to use a metal-frame succah is to use the wood
strips in a way that they become the main support for the sechach. For
example, by placing heavier wooden strips diagonally across the top of the
frame and putting the sechach on top of the diagonal strips, the wooden
strips become the support for the sechach rather than the metal frame{6}.

Question: Does it make any difference who puts the sechach on the succah?

Discussion: The basic halachah permits any person—male or female, adult or
minor, Jew or non-Jew—to put the sechach on the succah as long as it is
placed either l’sheim mitzvas succah or l’sheim tzeil{7}. Nevertheless,
l’chatchilah it is preferable to be stringent and allow only an adult Jewish
male to place the sechach over the succah{8}.

Question: In the face of an approaching storm, is it permitted to nail or
tie down the sechach to the walls or the frame of the succah?

Discussion: It is permitted to tie down the sechach to the walls or the
frame of the succah with any string or rope that is available. Although
l’chatchilah sechach supports must also be made from materials that are
kosher for sechach, in this case the rope or string is not considered as
support, since under normal weather conditions the sechach will remain
intact without being tied down{9}.

However, to nail the sechach down is not permitted. As explained earlier (5
Tishrei), a succah must be a temporary structure. When sechach is nailed
down, especially if it is nailed down so well that it blocks the rain from
entering the succah, the succah takes on the character of a permanent
structure. Such a succah is not valid, even b’diavad{10}.

Question: When reciting Havdalah over wine or grape juice in the succah,
does one recite leisheiv ba-succah?

Discussion: The general rule is that leisheiv ba-succah is recited only
before a kevius seudah, a sit-down meal consisting of at least a k’beitzah
(approx. 2 fl. oz.) of either bread or cake. Sitting in the succah merely to
drink wine or grape juice, even if the drinking takes place with an entire
group and for a long period of time, is not considered a kevius seudah and a
blessing is not recited{11}. Some poskim rule, therefore, that leisheiv
ba-succah is not recited over wine when it is drunk for Havdalah{12}.

Other poskim, however, make a distinction between drinking wine just for
enjoyment and drinking wine in the performance of an important mitzvah such
as Havdalah. In their opinion, the blessing of leisheiv ba-succah is recited
when wine is drunk for Havdalah, since the mitzvah of Havdalah elevates the
drinking and gives it the dignity of a kevius{13}. Although either opinion
may be followed as there is no prevalent custom, those who want to avoid a
potentially questionable situation should make sure to eat some bread or
cake immediately after Havdalah, which allows them to recite leisheiv
ba-succah according to all opinions{14}.

Question: If it rains during Chol ha-Moed, can one fulfill the mitzvah of
succah by sitting in the succah underneath a hand-held umbrella?

Discussion: Most poskim agree that it is permitted to do so, even if the
umbrella is held at a height of over ten tefachim{15}. Sitting under a
hand-held umbrella—as opposed to a patio umbrella which is built into and
supported by a table—is still considered as if one is sitting directly under
the sechach since a regular umbrella is not a stationary, fixed obstruction
like a patio umbrella. An umbrella moves with every movement of the hand
that is holding it and hence cannot be considered a real obstruction.
Indeed, it is reported that the Brisker Rav sat under an umbrella in his
succah{16}.

1. Care must be taken, however, that the canvass or other material be
firmly attached to the frame so that the walls are sturdy enough not to flap
around in a normal wind.

2. In addition to this opinion, there is another view which maintains that
even an object that does not directly support the sechach, but supports the
support of the sechach, must also be made from material which could be
kosher sechach. Although Chazon Ish (O.C. 143:3) rules in accordance with
this view, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 629:8 and the majority of the poskim do not
accept this stringency, and the accepted custom is to be lenient; see
Chelkas Yaakov 3:127, Minchas Shelomo 2:55 and Mo’adim u’Zemanim 1:82.

5. This is unrelated to the minority opinion of the Chazon Ish mentioned
in note 45. In our scenario, according to these poskim, the metal frame is
not a “support of a support”; there really is only one support of metal, and
the wood is altogether unnecessary to support the sechach—it merely rests
upon the metal, the support coming entirely from the metal underneath it.